Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Chapter 400 - 211: All Out Together

Li Changming listened and gave Juhua a grateful smile. He glanced at Meizi’s tightly bound pant legs and said to the group, "You all be careful. Tie up your pant legs properly. And carry a stick in your hands."

Juhua nodded. "That’s a good idea. Meizi, when are you moving over here?"

Li Changming smiled and answered for Meizi, "Once the weather gets a little warmer, we’ll start building the house. We’ll probably be able to move in about twenty days after that."

It wasn’t that he was eager to split from the family, but he was happy at the thought of Meizi not having to face his mother every day. ’It’ll save so much trouble!’ Although his mother had been worn down by Meizi to the point of having no temper left, and his young wife had never really been at a disadvantage, he still didn’t know whether to laugh or cry watching her order his mother around every day as if she were training Gou Dan.

If they moved here, Meizi could often chat with Juhua and have some company. In the days since Meizi had married him, he’d come to understand something: she was close with Juhua and Liu Xiaomei and had learned a lot of homemaking skills from them. That was a good thing.

Speaking of building the house, Meizi’s eyes crinkled into happy crescents as she said to Juhua, "Juhua, I’m coming to keep you company soon! And Xiu’s family is going to start building their house too. It’s going to get lively around here."

Liu Xiaomei listened and said with envy, "Sigh! You’re all moving in together, and I’m the one left out. I’ll just have to come over here more often from now on."

Meizi chuckled. "Isn’t that even better? From now on when you visit, you can just eat at whichever house you want. It’ll be so easy. Right, Juhua?"

Juhua nodded. Seeing Meizi’s happy expression, she really wanted to ask about her argument with Granny Hua. For one, she was concerned about Meizi’s married life. For another, since Granny Hua seemed to have her in her sights, Juhua needed to keep an eye on her too. ’Wouldn’t it be a joke if I really got schemed against without noticing!’

But with Li Changming sitting right there, it wasn’t a good time to bring it up.

After some more chatting and laughing, Zhang Huai and his mother arrived, and the group plunged back into the mountain forest to search for treasures.

The women were busy all afternoon. When they got home that evening and took stock, they found they had gathered several more pounds.

Sure enough, Qingmu and Zhang Huai had carried back the dead oak tree.

Juhua had said they should chop the tree into several sections, one for each family, so they could figure out how to grow wood ear mushrooms. So, the crowd gathered around the log, gesticulating and debating the matter.

Liu Sanshun was a clever one. His eyes darted about as he said, "I think if we take this log home, we should put it in a damp place. When the weather is neither too cold nor too hot, it will start growing wood ear mushrooms." He was thinking of simulating its natural environment on the mountain.

Qingmu added, "We might not need to put it in a specifically damp place. Just sprinkling it with water often to keep it looking moist should be enough. But controlling the temperature will be tricky."

Juhua glanced at the crowd and suggested, "I think you should all stop worrying about that for now. The current weather is perfect for growing wood ear mushrooms anyway. We should just focus on figuring out how they grow in the first place, and how to deal with the ’seed’ problem. I left a lot of mushrooms on the log so everyone could study them."

She was completely ignorant on the subject, so her only option was to mobilize the masses.

No one could come up with a clear explanation, so they just started working together. They chopped the tree into several pieces, and each family carried a section home to study.

Juhua and Qingmu discussed it and decided to place their section of the oak log in the woodshed. They would observe it for a few days before doing anything else.

For the next few days, Juhua continued gathering mushrooms on the mountain with Meizi and the others. The Yang Family, worried about her, invited He to tag along behind them. And just like that, the family ended up with a hefty amount of dried mushrooms.

At home, her grandmother would be drying the mushrooms. She would often scoop up a handful of the dried fungi, her face wreathed in a smile, as if she had struck gold.

When Li Changming and Shorty Zhou both began construction on their houses, the villagers got busy too. Every family had to send at least one person over to help.

They built Li Changming’s house first, then Shorty Zhou’s. After half a month of bustling activity, with people coming and going, the Little Qing Mountain area was much livelier than before.

Watching Meizi travel back and forth between Little Qing Mountain and the village each day, full of excitement, Juhua also happily looked forward to the day her friend would move into her new home.

On the afternoon the new house was finished, Little Shitou arrived at Juhua’s home carrying his little sister, Zhao Qing, on his back.

Juhua saw him hunched forward, letting the little girl lie flat against his back to keep her from tipping over and falling. But the little one wouldn’t lie still. She propped herself up on her brother’s back with her small arms, trying to sit upright. Her brother had no choice but to lean even further forward to keep her from falling.

Juhua’s heart leaped into her throat watching them. Before he could even get close, she rushed over, took Zhao Qing from him, and asked reproachfully, "Why did you bring your sister out all by yourself? What if she had fallen? Where’s your mother?"

Little Shitou looked up at her and grinned. "My mom is coming over for the feast in a little while. I thought I’d bring my sister over to play first, so I told Mom and carried her here. Sister Juhua, I’m a big boy now. Can’t I even bring my sister out to play? I carry her on my back at home all the time."

Juhua sat down at the doorway holding Zhao Qing. "Of course it’s fine for you to look after your sister at home," she told him. "You can just put her on the ground to crawl. But if you’re going to carry her outside, it’s best to have a grown-up with you. Little kids like to squirm, and their bodies are so soft. If she leans back suddenly, she could hurt her back."

Little Shitou must have found carrying her quite difficult, because he nodded and said, "Qing’er is always wiggling around. I was going to bring Gou Dan with me, but I don’t know where he ran off to, so I had to come by myself."

Juhua placed Zhao Qing on the ground in front of her and, holding her little hands, began to teach her how to walk.

The little girl toddled along, giggling and revealing a few tiny, rice-like teeth. Laishou found this fascinating. He came closer and asked, "Sister, can’t the baby walk?"